Anthropic Launches Cyber Mission to Defend Critical Infrastructure and Open-Source Code

Anthropic announced the Anthropic Cyber Mission, which it describes as a long-term effort to give defenders tools, research and resources for securing software and systems. In its own announcement, the company names two starting areas: critical infrastructure and open-source software. It also says it merged Project Glasswing into an expanded Cyber Verification Program earlier in the same week, widening access to its most capable models for defenders.

For critical infrastructure, Anthropic introduces the Critical Infrastructure Defense Program, which delivers frontier Claude models, engineers stationed at client sites and threat research to the trusted providers that operators depend on. Eleven founding partners are named, including Accenture, Booz Allen, CrowdStrike, Deloitte, Dragos and Hitachi, plus Palo Alto Networks, PwC and Rockwell Automation. Anthropic notes that operational technology often cannot be taken offline for patching, so known flaws can persist for years. It adds that since June it has offered models and support to more than half of US states under a programme for state, local, tribal and territorial governments.

For open source, the company launches OSS Scanner, an opt-in service in which enrolled projects get free periodic scans from its strongest models. Reports include a proof of concept, an explanation and, where possible, a suggested fix. They are produced without human review, so some may contain errors such as a wrong severity rating, and Anthropic expects a true-positive rate above 90%. A fund called the Defender Advantage Fund, launched in August, keeps the service free.

Anthropic forecasts that AI will favour defence within two years, though not necessarily sooner. It plans to bring the infrastructure programme to more partners and sectors and to share lessons, including failures.